The Big 12, for the last five out of six years, has been better than the SEC.
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Im Here. But UC Isnt doing ANY THING until they get rid of Wes Miller.
Wes constantly wins the Offseason and nothing else.
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This is Wes Millerās last chance to make the tourney. IF he fails He loses his Job and Likely takes the AD down with him who signed that god awful buyout that kept him here this off season.
This is still not enough shooting on this roster for me tho. But I do like the front court. UC hasnāt had a front court that can score points since Gary Clark and Kyle Washington. The duo of Haynes and Thiam is formidable.
Im almost out on Jizzle James tho. He shoots too many Mid Range Shots, Doesnāt draw any fouls and shoots too many bad 3āsā¦ Iād argue that he has shot better from 3 BUT the issue is UC runs such bad offense that usually ends with a late clock contested 3. HE canāt shoot them off the dribble yet does it too much. Im certain that if Jizzle played for Houston heād be a starā¦ But under Wes Miller he left to do whatever he wants with Zero consequence.
I think itās a Mistake for UC to run back its guard duo. Iād have rather kept DayDay and added an alpha scorer in his place.
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He returns!
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When the real world is waiting for you and no more coddled basketball life - thatās signs of being scared and desperate
I always want more shooting.
But what I value just as much and itās what UC lacked under Wes Miller isā¦ a Jarron Cumberland type. A Guy who can get fouled at will and get to the lineā¦ UC and Wes Miller teams (in his 10+ year history) have always avoided contact. They will contort their bad to shoot a bad mid range floater vs taking it to someoneās chest and drawing a foul. They need one of those guys because Kriisa, Dayday & Jizzle arenāt that. Abraev is not a physical player.
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Kriisa will be targeted on defense and get abused.
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You donāt āneedā a guy good at drawing foulsā¦ most of the top teams didnāt have a guy great at getting to the line. the few that were, were from the bigs (auburn)ā¦ most good teams in the modern era are shooting 3sā¦ and posting up with bigsā¦not driving and drawing fouls with guardsā¦you have shooters
ps was just talking to mark ā¦ heres my take on new UC from csn
"that this team has a much better overall construction.
Systemically, running a slow-paced offense with a poor shooting team made no sense last year. Arizona was just as bad a shooting team last year, but they pushed the pace to accommodate for that weakness.
Next yearās roster fits much more with what I think Wes is trying to do. Top to bottom, itās a drastically better shooting team and more suited for a half-court offense. Kerr, Tillery, Abaev, Celestineāeven Thiamācan all shoot the three. Spacing, which was a major issue last season, shouldnāt be nearly as problematic.
Thiam is a huge addition. Heās an All-Big 12 caliber center.
What does worry me is the idea of Jizzle and Day Day playing heavy minutes together. Based on the current roster (assuming no additional additions), if Cincinnati wants to be competitive in Big 12 play, theyāll need to prioritize minutes for Tillery, who can actually shoot and space the floor.
Full transparency: Iāve previously called Abaev the most overrated player in the nation. Heās great at catch-and-shoots and posting up smaller defenders, but I genuinely hate everything else about his game. He tries to playmake but turns the ball over at an absurd rate when he does. He lacks toughness, doesnāt defend or rebound well, and takes way too many ill-advised shots (while he makes them at a high rate, letās say 25%, Iād rather him just not take then). His handle also isnāt good enough for someone whoās as ball-dominant as he is.
That said, I still see him as a key to UC. His defense and rebounding are fixable at 6ā7". If Wes can temper his game and really develop him this offseason, he has star potential.
The big key for UC is to give the freshmen real minutes early in the season and stick with them through their growing pains before big 12 play.
My fear is that after a few early bumps, Wes will revert to lineups like: Jizzle, Day Day, Sencire, Jalen Haynes, and Thiam. While thatās probably your best defensive lineup, itāll leave you right where you were last yearāstruggling with terrible spacing and scoring."
https://x.com/portal_updates/status/1914674942643151142
Cj Jones entering the transfer portal. Complete roster rebuild for Jerome Tang
Graudated or Entered the Portal
1.Dug McDaniel
2.Brendan Hausen
3.Coleman Hawkins
4.David NāGuessan
5.Baye Fall
6.Ugonna Onyenso
7.Macaleab Rich
8.CJ Jones
Not including Achor Achor who left the team mid season
Nothing to add, just saying welcome back
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Good point. Could it be that they want to apply the most NIL to their football program?
What are the pros and cons for Milos either staying or going? I personally think he will benefit greatly with another year under CKS guidance. But it is so easy for us and not know how the money will benefit him and his family.
But sadly the hype for the SEC was off the rails for this one, singular year.
In retrospect, I think it is clear the SEC and ESPiN collaborated to really fuel that narrative. On one hand you have to give it to themā¦they went out and produced in the non-conference (which is what matters as the SOS becomes an insular circle once conference starts), but on the other you would have thought the SEC created big-time basketball with the way that league, itās coaches, and the pundits were talking. It was ONE season, whereas the Big 12 has been doing it, consistently for several.
Just as weāve seen with football, the narrative can eventually create reality. With that said I think the Big 12, by and large, has done a very good job in retooling and handling the offseason.
If only Tech hadnāt choked that away against Florida. The Coogs (or Tech) are Champs and the league maintains a really good stranglehold on that narrative.
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You have WAY to much time on your hands.
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thats just a copy and pasted old message
This. I doubt we are expecting a ton out of Kalifa offensively. If he can be Chris Harris with slightly better touch on non-dunks, Iāll take that in a heartbeat. I do expect Jojo to work on his touch in the paint the entire offseason and it will be better. It got significantly better during this past season.
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Houston survived not having a guy who gets fouled a ton because they play really slow on offense, Shoot lights from 3 AND played absolutely incredible defense. Their defense let them survive nights when the shots didnāt fall.
But another way to survive is to have guys who can draw fouls and score even when the shots dont fall. Jarron Cumberland carried UC on its back to victories In games where he was god awful from the field BUT fouled out the other teams best defender and made double digit free throws.
UC wonāt play as Slow as Houston and wonāt shoot as good and wonāt defend as good so they need at least one guy who can draw fouls at a high rate.
Dayday and Jizzle actively avoid contact. We just need someone who has that in their bag.
Mark Sears had a 47.8 foul rate for BAMA
Jase Richardson had a 41 foul rate
Ziegler and Gainey both had 40+
Even Houston had Sharp with 37 Foul Rate.
UCās highest was 15.9 which was Dayday. Him and Jizzle with Foul Rates in the 15 is just bad bad news when you arenāt a high volume elite shooter
cons of coming back:
- year olderā¦will 23.5 at draft if he comes back
- a big part of his current stock is shooting 43% from 3ā¦very realsitic that with more offensive focus on him that his percentages goes down next year (Which could kill his stock)
pros of coming back
- itll be a weak pg draft in 2026- elite wing/SG draft, little in the sense of PG
- milos could be an all-american 6ā4 pg on a top 5 teamā¦ that will keep the floor from falling off no matter what
if he can get a guaranteed multiyear contract he should goā¦ in the case of injury he could go completely undrafted next yearā¦
if he maintains 40%+ from 3ā¦ scores 15+ and we make like the final 4 (likely meaning he is an all-american), he could see himself late lottery, mid 1st roundā¦
if he is like 33% on 12pts perā¦ and we are still top 5ā¦ his stock could still be late 2nd next year
if you are in the milos camp, your hope is that he dominates the combine scrimmages and plays his way into the 1st rd this year (what grimes did)ā¦ but at the same tine be ready to come back if the scrimmages are terrible (no offense to jwan his portsmith invitational games were terrible, he might have played away whatever little chance he had at the pros)
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Also disagree on Tillery.
Just dont see a lot of freshman making huge impacts in the big 12. I mean Iād love if he does But he is barely 6ā0. I think putting any kind of expectation on him is not going to end well. I mean Miller from Houston was rated close to the same and couldnāt get on the floor even when Houstons rotation sometimes needed him.
Im also pretty meh on how big of an impact that Abraev will have. He will get abused on defense.
UCās season is all about Jizzle James and DayDay Thomasā¦ IF they improve it will be a great year, if they dont, itās going to be a disaster again. Dayday at least can defend tho.
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